(first posted 4/24/2013) It’s come to my attention that some of you might have formed the impression that I’m not a big lover of Broughams. Some have even suggested that I’m biased against the breed, or just not capable of warming up to their charms. Not so! I’m just not easy. Not any old prim and perfectly-shiny pouffy-topped, loose-pillow, wire-wheel-covered sled is going to win my heart; I have my standards. And I’ve finally found the one true Brougham that meets them. I’m in love.
A Brougham to lust over, with skin as fine as any I’ve seen, certainly since the 1935 Chevy truck up at Opal Creek. Well, give this fine Chevy another fifty years, and it may well look like that too. Although I suspect the ’35 truck might have been made of a thicker gauge of steel. Still, this Caprice almost brought tears to my eyes. Yes! no shiny paint, and no tinny wire wheel covers.
Look at that blush of fine surface rust, thanks to Roger Smith’s new mega-million dollar paint booth robots, which were famous for spraying more paint on each other than the cars that spent 3.84659 seconds with them in the booth.
And the roof! What joy it brings to my jaded, GM-hating eyes, to see such a nicely developed case of vinylnoma. Let’s take a closer look.
It’s almost perfect; another couple of seasons in the sun will get it there. And then a few of coats of “Vinyl-Seal” will lock in that effect for decades to come (with diligent annual re-coating). Maybe that’s why he was at the building supply store. Personally, I rather like seeing ribbons of vinyl trailing behind a Brougham at speed. To each their own.
No indication as to what’s under the big hood, which is working up such a fine blush of patina. Given the very manly man that stepped out of this Brougham, looking all the world like the Marlboro Man in his retirement years, I strongly suspect it’s the 305 V8, which came in a bewildering array of variations in 1986 (I’m pretty sure that’s what this is).
I’d yank it out and drop in a warmed-over 292 straight six with a Clifford intake and four barrel, some headers, and a three-speed manual with overdrive. And none of that eco-weenie smog crap. The hard part would be finding a donor for the column shift parts. Maybe up in Canada, where folks still maintained the proper way to buy and drive a Chevy as long as possible: with a six and three-on-the-tree. I hear you can still buy a Bel Air version of the current Impala up there with a bench seat and three-on-the-tree.
Before any of you east of the Missouri River get the impression that this car is owned by a typical Eugene Lebowski-type stoner, please check out how nicely maintained its interior is. This is a real man’s car, one who wears his patina proudly, but makes up his bed nicely in the morning. And enjoys good music, thanks to the GM-Delco sound system.
This genuine rust threw me a bit, as our healing winter rains prevent this sort of thing hereabouts.
The I noticed the license plate. Aha! That explains it all; the last of the real cowboys, one that doesn’t need to ride around in a giant jacked-up 4×4 Mega-Cab with a black exhaust plume worthy of a Fairbanks-Morse Trainmaster at full chat when he guns his chipped turbo-diesel truck. And in the back seat were stacks of nicely folded clothes. This man is traveling; who knows what his mission or destination is. But he’s riding in style. And my Broughmance is welling up.
I’d take this car in flash; in fact, it would be the perfect ride for the CC Iowa Get-Together. The’71 Ford isn’t a genuine Brougham, and how can I prove myself with Tom and the Midwest contingent without showing up in the real thing? And if anything’s the real thing, this is it. Still, my beating heart.
Paul, I’m really looking forward to seeing you and Stephanie ease into the parking lot with this Caprice.
For this being your first time, I think this is a wise gal to choose. She is obviously highly experienced and will treat first timers quite gently. It will be a delight you will remember for years.
A B-body is the gateway drug to Broughmance, soon Paul will be moving up to stronger stuff, Regency, Park Avenue, the Designer Marks….gasp….Talisman(Brougham Black Tar Heroin)….once you get hooked….
Wyoming must be a really salty place. This place chews through cars at an alarming rate yet most of these caprices are relativly rust free. I dont think ive ever seen one with rust through like that, not that I was ever looking that hard though.
Cars like this do not exist in Newfoundland, at least those that came here new and were year-round daily drivers. I’ve seen 10 year old vehicles with more rust-through than that.
Im in Nova Scotia and its about the same here.
“Wyoming must be a really salty place.”
Living 2 hours south of Cheyenne, it’s not really known for salt and rust. More likely the Wyoming dirt roads packed dirt and mud between the body and fender locking in water.
Broughams? The old commercial comes to mind: “Uneasy? Queasy? Take a Bromo…” referring to Bromo-Seltzer.
I hate the “brougham-ization” of American cars in that period. Growing up with the likes of Chevy SS and other cool performance-oriented cars has conditioned me to realize that was how cars were SUPPOSED to ALWAYS be.
I like my comfort now that I’m older, but my Impala, though an LTZ-trimmed model has none of the fancy-schmancy phony luxury of the cars of old.
I love the subtle dig by Paul. It’s like a candy bar with layer after layer of gooey caramel and nuts.
Hell, it’s a snickers bar of a post!
Kudos!
You made me think of the new Snickers advertising…
The “serial killer” tire and wheel combo is perfect with the lovely patina. The outward decay would allow me to truly enjoy this thing. I wouldn’t hesitate to drive it when they occasionally salt the roads (once/twice per year).. I could park it wherever I want & get plenty of space from timid and snobby drivers.
LG4 is the Quadrajet-fed 305 engine, offered in pretty much all 80’s GM junque (including Camaros & Firebirds). LV2 is the RPO for the Oldsmobile 307 V8 engine so I assume that pertains to the station wagon bodystyle.
The UX1 stereo in Caprice flavor is a pretty rare find these days.
Correct, the LV2 Olds V8 was only available in B-Body wagons across all divisions as the sole engine beginning 11/1/85.
Very late to the party here. FTR the Olds 307 was installed in some Caprice sedans in place of the 305. I own one. They’re not common but pop up more in Canada.
Actually, I think that’s a Delco UU6, because it doesn’t have the search feature on the tape deck. Those ERS-equipped Caprices with this setup had wonderful sound.
Argh, you’re right! I saw the EQ and immediately assumed UX1 without even looking at the tape deck. 🙂 I should know better as I (not surprisingly) collect Delco radios/stereos.
I actually have a very nice and fully functional UU6 in my closet that was in my old Cutlass Supreme. Part of the deal when I sold the car was that the radio stayed with me.
One of these days I would like to figure out how to convert it into a home radio…
Its not particularly hard. Back in the late 90s we got a hold of a retired radio display that had about 4 radios in it and was powered off AC current with a converter. Basically they took a portion of the harness out of a car and just bullet connected wire to a speaker booth. Easy way to do it is visit a pull a part junkyard snip the plug in (probably the 3 stack blue-white-black) and just wire it to a speaker. Of course you will be able to wire up four but two will work. There are vids on Youtube.
The thing to do now is to tap into the amp circuit and install a 3.5mm plug in to run your iPod or radio receiver and you can get Pandora or MP3.
Thanks, I had a feeling that you would chime in here!
I suppose that at the least I could just use a cassette adaptor that I have, as the cassette player worked just fine last time it was in a car. Plus, I have a set of Delco ERS speakers that would work wonderfully with it 🙂
I LOL at the “serial killer tire wheel combo” statement….At least you’ll be comfortable in that big trunk…..next to the shovels…and lye…and skulls…..
These were also available with the 4.3L/262 CID V6 (just coupes and sedans, not wagons), although I’d guess that not many were built that way. IIRC, the V6 was available through 1988, all the way to 1990 on fleet models.
I much prefer the stark, tweed upholstered honesty of the 9C-1 interior, along with the attendant mechanical goodies.
WRT the rust, that is a strange pattern. It’s not road salt. This is consistent with pics I see of long abandoned junkers in desert high country. The blazing sun at that altitude bakes off the paint,and surface rust takes hold. The condition of the top seems to bear that theory out.
I was refering to the rot on the passenger quarter panel. The rest of the patina is probably, like you said, from sitting in the high desert.
Actually I think that bubbled-up rust is from a poor quality repair. You can see the straighter lines of the filler cracking away at the rear of the panel and angling forward under the stainless trim piece
I was thinking the same thing, that’s an odd place for rust to start. My Caprice has it ahead of the rear wheel on the same side but from a little bondo work when some shop replaced the door skin and wanted to make each adjacent panel flush that way.. wish they just left it. Rust crept upwards from that crease there.
When you come out of the house on a frosty or dewy morning, the parts of the car that border the interior will have more frost or dew on them than other areas. So the doors and top are more likely to be wet longer and more often.
Living in an area that sees extensive road salt, harsh winters and rusty cars after 10 years, this car has not seen harsh winters. Other than the lower quarter panels, the majority of the surface rust and vinyl roof damage appears to be caused by the excessive sun exposure.
I have seen B-bodies of this vintage, more rotten than this car, where most of the lower part of the car is gone.
Maybe in the spirit of the upcoming summer season we should do a “Rusty But Still Driving” post where everyone posts the worst condition cars they see but still are plated and rolling. That does not happen around here, but might be interesting to see.
“Looking all the world like the Marlboro Man in his retirement years…”
Ouch! IIRC he was disfigured by smoking-related cancer.
I hate that seeing those seats, my brain conjures up Old Filthy Cloth Interio-Aroma. This whole post makes me want another shower.
A fabulous car. Seriously! To me, a car like this represents true freedom. First, no payments. Second, you are free from worry. Drive it and enjoy it. Shopping carts and door dings would be of no concern whatsoever. No need to fear a little rain or a little road salt.
The inside is quite nice, but not so nice that you need fear dropping a french fry or spilling a drip of coffee. A big comfy couch with a nice stereo. All that’s missing is the fireplace and the fridge.
As long as the 305 is kept in fresh oil and there are still a few old cans of R-12 in the garage to keep the old A/C blowing cold, you have here before you the perfect car. I would drive this. Really.
I have a can of R-12. The highest bidder gets it!
Shhhhh – the next knock at your door will be federal agents. 🙂
R12 is not hard to get, provided you have a license. Current prices by the case/delivered work out to about $38.50/can.
And you can get a license to buy R-12 by taking a refrigerant-recycling test online and paying a fee, then printing out your license.
Great comments, true.
I just love the crushed-velvet seating (and I don’t wanna hear no haters complaining it isn’t “real” velvet or something like that!)
Why, that’s some of the finest velour money could buy!
Seriously, I love that stuff!
1986 was Chevrolet’s first attempt at a Brougham edition, and they elected to use the 1985 Olds Delta 88 Royale Brougham interior for this year. 1987 saw a redesigned Brougham interior.
A little known fact, the 1983-84 Pontiac Parisiennes used this interior for the Brougham model as well.
That Royale Brougham interior got around. When I started collecting old car brochures in the late ’90s and got an ’86 Caprice catalog, the first thing I thought was why there was a Delta 88 interior in a Chevy 🙂
I have that same book!
LOL wow I never knew that about the interior! Man they got their moneys worth, unless they were using leftover supplies. I know the ’85 Delta Royale had some carryover trim parts from the Ninety Eight as well. Very interesting.
I think that Chevy got this interior because by the end of the 1985 run of the OldsmoBuick B-bodys they got the interior from the last 98 Brougham/Park Avenues. Later Chevrolet changed the Brougham seats later in the run, they lost the button pillow look.
> Look at that blush of fine surface rust, thanks to Roger Smith’s new mega-million dollar paint booth robots, which were famous for spraying more paint on each other than the cars that spent 3.84659 seconds with them in the booth.
Sounds about right. My mom had an 86 Monte Carlo. First it got surface rust on every edge with a sharp crease. Then it started rusting in the middle of flat panels. It probably would have wound-up looking something like that Caprice if they had kept it long enough. Reverse failed in the transmission (THM200, I think) and my dad decided the car wasn’t worth the cost of a transmission overhaul. He gave it to someone else to use as a parts car.
Lots of places already did have robotic paint booths, I dont know when the B-body got them, usally all the big robotic improvements were for the plants that were going to make the newest cars, i.e all the FWD stuff.
In addition to some paint and trim pieces, the car appears to be missing a functioning rear suspension!
Typical 77-90 GM RWD car problem.
ALL of them have sagging or collapsed springs. My 76 Chevelle didn’t but my 77 Chevelle did. Our 84 Delta 88 despite being overloaded on road trips with 5 people and two weeks of luggage, sagged the front end to the stops, with the rear way up in the air at stock height, made it handle great.
I never had any issues with rear springs in my b-bodies sagging. I did have one break the lower pigtail. I also had two b-bodies that broke the front springs too, where the coil that sits in the control arm it cracked. At least the rear springs are cheap and easy to replace when they do get saggy.
I’m not seeing that. Look at the last picture; it’s riding quite level.
The shadow across the rear tire creates a saggy optical illusion.
I had a ’78, ’82 & ’86 all with over 100,000 miles and never had any suspension problems front or rear.
I’ll second that. Not one of my G or B body GM’s ever had broken springs.
Now the 90’s to 97 Taurus/Sable. That was a car that was notorious for this.
It warms my heart to see one of these well down the road towards One Less Brougham.
I’m happy to note these Broughams will outnumber and outlast both you & your precious little German toys.
Junqueboi, remember, Syke loves Chevy Vegas, & probably wouldn’t mind having a Vega GT Panel Express be his hearse. Oh wait, I forgot, any remaining Vega Panel Expresses will probably be hot rods, or rust, both much to his dismay.
While I still laugh at brougham decadence, they’ve been outdone by monster trucks for sheer egotistical silliness.
At first I thought junkyard find, big deal, then clicked and saw the old girl is still in service. What a trouper! Looks like someone cut the paint a little too hard years ago. I can assure you a 27 year old Mercedes vinyl top from Wyoming would look just as bad by now 😉
I have the same age Cadillac, from AZ of all places, with original paint and top. Car looks like new. Key is maintenance, a wax like Zaino for the paint and 303 Protectant for the top. Work great.
I don’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth. Nice start Paul but how about a self-rebutal piece on the original Seville. You can use the yellow car that I’m sure Stephanie found for you. She has good taste!
It amazes me that someone chose to travel cross-country in that POS.
Quite likely, someone who’s been “downsized” and needs to travel elsewhere to find something. But…cataclysmic failures on the road are not much fun anytime, and especially not when you’re counting nickels and have just enough for gas and Motel 6…and nothing else.
Freedom? From payments, yes. But that assumes he has the wherewithal to cope with probable disasters. If not…that thing isn’t freedom; it’s an albatross.
Did anyone tell you that you tend to be a pessimist 🙁 You’re making a lot of assumptions, all of them very negative. Maybe he’s visiting friends; or a woman he met on the internet. Or….
Sorry.
To quote Popeye The Sailor…I yam what I yam. No point pretending otherwise.
Principaldan can pop in here with another photo of his curmudgeon kitty to close the loop…
An IQ and this $200 Bonneville took me 600 miles home with nary a problem. And yes, I was going as fast as everyone else….and yes, it probably would have taken me cross-country if I had asked it to.
Total freedom actually.
I am the only one who like GM’s B-bodies but dislikes the “Brougham” versions? The 77-90 Caprice is one of my favourite cars. I never liked the pillow-top, softly sprung, overly brougham versions though. I much prefered the V8, F-41 equipped cars, with non-pillow top and non velour seating and NO-vinyl roofs. A 9C1 would be my ultimate version, but I never had the opportunity to own one. All the b-bodies I owned were more on the plain side, and I always enjoyed them. With the HD suspensions they were nice riding cars with good handling. Even my Olds wagon, which was fully loaded, atleast had NO-brougham style interior (HD cloth/vinyl), HD suspension, and NO shag style carpet. No better way to ruin a good b-body than the stock queezy suspension and a velour interior.
I 2nd your opinions. I was never enough of a Ford fan back then to dismiss the GM B-bodies, they really were the best of the Yank Tank breed. And vinyl roofs, quite apart from being aesthetically unnecessary, make no sense in the Sunbelt where they get degraded by solar UV, as does the black plastic so fashionable now. Light, solid colors & chrome or stainless trim (kept at a tasteful minimum) are the most durable in the long term.
I’m with you. The ’77 downsizing is one of the smarter things GM did. Of course they still had to put on all the ’71-76 crap to keep the stupid customers happy. A BelAir of that generation is just beautiful.
I too was never a vinyl roof fan and would always strive to find a car without one if possible. The Caprice as you say is best ordered without the vinyl, wire wheels and is best served with the good old 305 LG4, especially the 1985 on up versions with 9.5:1 compression, optional 2.73 rear gears in place of the 2.56, optional F-41 and P225/70R15 tires and of course the extra cost gauge cluster. Make mine silver blue with blue interior and I’m a happy camper.
Had a 77 Impala wagon and miss it continually. Wouldn’t want this vinylized pos. Reminds me of the vinyl on the top of my 85 town car that pretty much finalized my opinion of that bit of tomfoolery (nothing personal tom). As for the engine, one has to assume there are bolt in replacements of all sorts that are available. Mine ran on 5 cylinders for quite a spell and half compression on three. I wouldn’t change it till I had no choice. I drove mine till the wheels fell off and then I changed the wheels. I guess I dumped it shortly after my lobotomy.
The rust holes would have this off the road here and in the rebar line.
When I saw the heading I first thought, oh-oh, Stockholm Syndrome, Tom and the boys have finally gotten to Paul. Then I saw more pix and read about the 292 with the Clifford intake and the three-speed overdrive. I think his Ford is just lonely, doesn’t have much in common with the Subie and the Scion, longs for someone to talk to who remembers when real class meant full three-across seating, being able to accelerate away from the intersection in high gear without bucking. Must be Spring!
True enough. But there’s a difference between patina and decomposition.
There’s plenty of examples out on the Pacific Coast that offer faded paint, rotted vinyl, blackwall tires and no hubcaps…but don’t have opening rocker panels and naked rust bleeding through the thinnest of paints. I mean, come on! The world is full of junked cars…the most interesting thing about that one is that it was able to make what’s probably its final long trip.
More pessimism; I bet this car has a few trips left in it yet.
Why am I giving you a hard time? Because my old Ford truck looks about equally beat up (or more), but it’s mechanically in decent shape. Except for its noisy cab, I’d not hesitate to drive it across the country. Don’t judge a book by its patina’d cover.
Exactly what I’ve learned after all these years with my 72 Dodge Dart, Paul. All of you have seen it and I can tell you that as long as any vehicle is well maintained and with care, it can go as far as you want to.
Seriously… You should see some of the rusty garbage that I have trusted to take me around. I have a 92 Ford Explorer in my driveway that still takes me to the store and pulls my little trailer. It’s got 269,000 miles on it, on the original engine and trans, and I just got done replacing the rotted out rocker panels and spring perches to get it through inspection. True, it’s not my daily driver, but I’ll go a 100 miles with it. If it breaks, I’ve got my cell phone.
Forgive him, he’s probably a 15 year old kid, who has a car waiting in the garage for him, bought by his mommy and her boyfriend.
Doubt he could handle a beast of this caliber, heck he still rides with training wheels. 😛
Back in 1997 I had a friend that just had to have one of these. We were riding around and we saw a light Sage Green 1986 Caprice Brougham sitting for sale at a diner. We stopped and he ran inside and found the owner. Todd bought it almost on the spot. It had HUGE rust holes all down the sides and the top looked pretty much like this.
He decided to have the car redone. We found a little body shop in Ypsilanti that said they could do it. After having a new top put on, we took the car to the shop, and one week, five gallons of Bondo and $1000 later, the car came out looking beautiful. I was really surprised. He took it and had a set of nice whitewalls put on and it was a stunning car!
Too bad it was riddled with mechanical problems. It had a lot of miles on it. A year later he sold it to a taxi company, never to be seen again.
Dr. Capricelove or how I learned to stop worrying and love the Brougham.
This could be the CC comment of the day!
‘Vinylnoma” Ha…cracked me up too!
The best part isn’t the vinylnoma but rather the evenly-spaced tears below the rear window.
I had a hard time figuring at first if Paul is being sarcastic or serious in his expression of love for this car. I decided he is serious, because I totally agree that this is the perfect cowboy car for someone who doesn’t need a truck to make any statements about his manliness. The surface rust patina is totally a Western look, which I have come to appreciate as having some appeal. The rear quarter panel rot kind of spoils it, though. I also agree with Paul that I respect a man who keeps his interior clean, even when the body is spent. I do think some of the other posters make a good point that this car would be just a little more perfect if it was a standard version, not the Brougham. This is also the ideal car for the Marlboro man when he is retired and has smoked away most of his cattle drive and rodeo money.
Talk about patina! I’d say that car has definitely never been in a garage. Good to see it’s still around and kicking, something not too many 4 door sedans from 1986 can say. This thing probably scares all the soccer moms at the strip mall!
Truth be told it probably scares the soccermoms husband in his new shiny paint 4×4 pickup too. When your driving a vehicle that is worth less than 1000 dollars, it just kind of screams “Hey, I’ve got nothing to lose!”, even if that’s not how you feel.
The 305 came one way in all coupes and sedans and half year wagons in LG4 4BBL electronic spark control form with 165 HP and 245 torque. The base rear axle ratio was 2.56;1 with a 2.73 optional. The 2.73 was std in wagons with 3.23 available. As mentioned a 4.3 was offered as std with 140 HP but my money would go on the 305 in this Brougham example. I do still see an occasional base Caprice sedan with the 4.3 but most seem to be 305 equipped.
It wasn’t until photo #6 that I realized the car’s paintjob was a two-tone charcoal grey/silver. Or even that the body color was grey at all; from all the rust I was picturing it as more of a (washed-out) copper or bronze. But that’s OK: in the latter days of my faded-maroon ’84 Cressida the “patina” looked like a bad sunburn that had started to peel.
Also, as this B-body is a Wyoming car, the phrase “Brougham on the Range” comes to mind.
Brougham, Brougham on the range, where the velour and the landau tops play…
can anyone tell me what a 1986 chevy caprice classic brougham is worth? it has been sitting in a driveway for ten years. has not been started in those years. one flat tire, body has a lot of rust, vinyl roof is shot. second car , 1988 chevy caprice classic brougham LS, sitting in driveway not started since 2001,pretty much same condition as the first one. some advise for moving forward to get them out of the driveway would be great.
Call the junk man. What he gives you is what they are worth.
I can really see the worry-free driving experience this fine Brougham would offer. When I had my ultra-pretty ’73 Lincoln Mark IV all finally complete & sorted out, I found I was afraid to really drive it anywhere. I’d scour the lots for a space far enough away from the morons, riff-raff & doddering balloonfoots to keep her unscathed. But, there was a science to this; the space could not be so far away so as to shout to the heavens, ‘HEY! HERE’S A REALLY NICE CAR! COME OVER & F$*# IT UP!’ Nothing would send chills down my spine more readily than to enter a smallish or overcrowded lot, where I’d have no choice but to nose-in next to some lumpy Econoline or jacked up 4×4 encrusted with 2 inches of dried mud. With this car, you could slip into one of the close spots amongst the labrynth of hungry shopping carts & half-wit non-car-enthusiast types & have no fear of scrapes, dings, dents, or to quote Cameron from ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’, getting ”breathed-on wrong!” Great post, Paul–do more like this.
I helped an old lady put some cat litter in one of these at work the other day. It was black with missing bumper filler panels.
Didn’t quite have the right mix between flexible and biodegradable 30 years ago.
Oh yeah! Thats my kinda car. In fact, I’ll take 2. But make mine a 77-79. 2dr.
Wow more than 70 posts and I think it’s still January, unless I missed a few months somehow….
Carfax has 5 cars with this license plate including a 2015 pickup so I assumed this Caprice is dead.
https://www.carfax.com/processQuickVin.cfx?partnerCode=&moduleId=107&partnerSiteLocation=&partner=&checkReport=NCR&checkReportVersion=01&fid=&test=&cctest=&affiliateId=&subId=&bannerName=&licensePlateNumber=111681&licensePlateState=WY
“(first posted 4/24/2017)” – might want to fix this 🙂
Just a few years ago, I had an unBroughm ’86 Plain Jane Caprice of the same color with no vinyl roof, breaking out plastic molding around the front and rear bumpers, sagging headliner held up with falling down thumb tacks, roll down windows, and not much else, EXCEPT power door locks AND an aftermarket intermittent wiper control dial mounted on the dashboard to the left of the steering wheel. Now THAT made me feel important. I lent it for a spell to my son, who was away at college, and he thought it was swell, never having driven a RWD, full size car, or a V8 (305 cu. in.) for that matter. I picked it up at a used car lot for $1,200 and made a daily 80 mile round trip commute to work in it for several years. I received many offers to buy it on the spot while filling it up at various gas stations, and held out, until a mechanic told me he’d only give it about 20,000 more miles to run without major problems, so I let it go for $900. Still miss it.
Maybe I’m just weird, but I don’t care how old/beat my car is, it HAS to be clean inside and out. Anything less (IMHO) invites the careless and unconcerned to think that I don’t care about it as well. All they see is “an old junker” of a car, and not a part of my life deeply intwined in my heart. Sorry, I would HAVE to effect a few repairs if this were my car! 🙂
+1
I’d spray it flat black, before I rock it rusty like that.
People would be waiting for the owner, to ask for his autograph…Thinking he were, Al Bundy. 😀
I wonder if it had the aluminum rear drums? Boy, those were a pain to remove.
As long as the heater works and the rain stays out, it’s good enough for me. Nice interior, though 🙂
Gawd what a turd. Somewhere there is a junkyard with an empty bed crying from loneliness tonight. Oh and might want to check that FBI list at the Post Office.
You need help Paul. This thing should have gone to the crusher ages ago.
Nothing like the sound of a vinyl top coming apart at 60 mph. I had a 71 Dart that did. No trailing slivers as described. Just an incessant buzzing/flapping/beating? sound. And when I stopped, most of the top was gone. Finally. Made removal much easier. But the caprice in question looks to have a padded top, which means that it would likely look like you were shearing sheep from behind as it disintegrated.
Paul, you wrote of this car having a good radio. I’ve got two ’89 F41s now… and both radios are lousy. I don’t know why.
Good lord; I can’t imagine how bad this hooptie smells like stale cigarette smoke.